Carpet and rug making machine



I June 21, 1932.

J. B. ROBERTSON ET AL CARPET AND RUG MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, 1929 5 Sheefcs-Sheet l ATTORNEY June 1932- J. B. ROBERTSON ET AL 1,863,912

CARPET AND RUG MAKING MACHINE I Filed Feb. 18, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 8A IER K0551: mom GEO/F65 ROBERTSON BY MPSM ATTORNEY June 21, 1932. J. B. ROBERTSON ET AL CARPET AND RUG MAKING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 18, 1929 June 1932- J. B. R/OBERTSON ET AL 1,863,912

CARPET AND RUG MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS ATTORNEY June 21, 1932- J. B ROBERTSON ET AL CARPET AND RUG MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR MW mu R 5 Y m Mm M n NW A m Patented June 21, 1932 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE JAMES BAXTER ROBERTSON, OF PATERSON AND GEORGE ROBERTSON, OF BIDGEWOOD,

NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO THE PABATEX CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY CARPET AND RUG MAKING MACHINE Application filed February 18, 1929. Serial No. 340,788.

This invention relates to processes and machines for making pile fabric and is particularly adapted for use in making rugs or similar articles.

In certain instances rugs have been made heretofore by forcing yarn or bats of WOOl or other fibrous material between spaced members to form the material into loops after which the loops of material are secured to a web of backing material by means of rubber compounds which, when vulcanized, hold the loops in place. The ends of the loops are then cut and the material trimmed to the desired thickness or length of pile or nap.

The machines for making rugs in this manner have been large, expensive, and difiicult to operate, and easily disorganized. F urthermore, the machines cannot be operated rapidly so that production is relatively slow.

A general ob ect of the present invention is so to improve the processes and the machinery for making pile fabrics, and particularly for making pile fabrics of the type in which the pile 1s superposed upon and cemented or otherwise permanently secured to the fabric or other sheet backing, that such pile fabrics may be manufactured much more economically and rapidly and with greater assurance of uniformity in the finished product than heretofore.

A particular object of the present invention is an improved process of forming a continuous yarn or bat into a series of successive loops preparatory to securing it to a web or sheet of backing material, and novel and efficient machinery for practicing this process.

Other objects and important features" of the invention will appear from the following description and claims when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a preferred form of mechanism embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end View of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 1 with certain parts of the apparatus 'broken away;

Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 are enlarged views of details of the construction shown in Figure 1;

Figures 8 and 9 illustrate details of a modified form of the invention;

Figures 10, 11, 12 and 13 are diagrammatic illustrations of certain parts of the mechanism showing the position of the parts dur- 111 successive time intervals.

n the preferred form of the invention illustrated the machine comprises a plurality of bars 2 which act as folding or 100 -forming members for engaging the pileorming material and forming it into loops to be secured to a web of backing material to form a pile fabric. These loop-forming members are arranged in four series designated 4, 6, 8 and 10 positioned one above the other. The two inner series of bars designated 6 and 8 engage the pile-forming material to fold it into loops and are moved lengthwise of the machine from the front end where the pileforming material enters the machine, shown near the righthand end of Figure 1, toward the rear of the machine at the lefthand end of Figure 1. Each of the outer series of bars designated 4 and 10 is moved forward in the machine to a point where the bars mav be moved from the series 4 and 10 into position in the series 6 and 8 respectively and into engagement with the pile-forming material from opposite sides thereof. The bars are moved lengthwise of the machine by means of similar sets of threaded shafts designated 12, 14, 16 and 18 located on opposite sides of the machine so as to engage the opposite ends of the bars of the series 4, 6, 8 and 10 respectively.

The bars of each series are in the form of vertically positioned strips of suflicient thickness to give them the necessary rigidity. The ends of the bars are provided with recesses 22 which rest upon tracks 24 along which the bars slide as the threaded shafts are rotated. The tracks upon which the bars of the series 6 and 8 rest and the shaftsjl and 16 which engage the ends of the bars are so positioned that the adjacent or approaching edges of the bars of the series 6 and 8 extend beyond or overlap each other a suflicient distance to fold the pile-forming material over the edge of the preceding bar of the other series so as to form a loop of the desired len h. The adjacent edges of the bars are re uced in thickness as at 20 to rovide a s ace between the edges of the ars for the oops of material so formed. Each bar is formed on each end with a chamfered portion 25 positioned at an angle to the body of the bar for enga ing the threads of the shafts as shown in igure 6. The bars of each series are thus held in a substantially vertical position while the threads which, of course, are positioned at an angle to the bars, engage the chamfered ends of the bars.

The shafts 12, 14, 16, and 18 are rotated in such a direction with reference to the threads on the shafts that the bars of the series 6 and 8 move toward the rear of the machine, and the bars of the series 4 and 10 are moved toward the front of the machine. In Fi ure 3 the shafts are shown as being driven y intermeshing ears on the ends of each shaft and the sha t 18 is driven from a bevel gear 34 which in turn is driven by gears 36 and 38 from the belt drive 40. The shafts 12, 14, 16 and 18 on each side of the machine which engage the opposite ends of the series of bars 4, 6, 8 and 10 respectively are driven in a similar manner.

As the shafts are rotated the bars approaching the front of the machine in the series 4 and 10 are moved alternately into the series 6 and 8 respectively and into engagement with the pile-forming material from opposite sides thereof, so as to take up positions which carry the approaching reduced edges 20 of each bar ast the edge of the preceding bar so as to old the material over the edge of the preceding bar. This movement of the bars from one series to another and into and out of engagement with the pile-forming material is efiected by shifting means provided at the front and rear ends of the machine. One bar is provided for each turn of the threads of each shaft and the shifting means employed causes one bar at the forward end of the machine to be moved from the series bars from one series to another is shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5. This mechanism includes a rotatable disk 42 mounted on the counter shaft 19 and provided with a spring pressed pin 44 which is normally in retracted position but which is projected outwardly from the face of the plate 42 into position to engage the underside of the bar 2 by means of a stationary cam 46 carried by the collar 48 which surrounds the shaft 19. During each rotation of the plate 42 the pin 44 is moved outwardly by engagement with the cam 46 so as to be in position to engage the bar 2 of the series 10 for example, and carried by the shaft 18 and raise it out of en a ement with the threads of the shaft 18 an mto position to be engaged by the threads of the shaft 16 so that it will be carried rearwardly with the series of bars 8.

As the bar is moved into position in any series it is urged by a positioning member 50 toward the preceding bars of the series and held by the beveled end 56' of the positioning member in the proper angular position to be engaged by the threads of the shaft without being dislocated or engaged by the threads in a manner which would cause the machine to jam. The bars at the forward end of the shaft 12 and the rearward end of shaft 16 are prevented from dropping downward into engagement with the threads of the shafts 14 and 18 respectively before the preceding bar has been moved out of the way by means of projections 52 carried by the positioning members 50 which engage the underside of the bars and hold them against downward movement until the shifting mechanism positively engages the bars to move them into the lowered positions.

The timing of the movement of the bars form the outer series 4 and 10 into the inner series 6 and 8 is illustrated by Figures 10, 11, 12 and 13. In Figure 10 the pin 44 of the shifting mechanism has raised a bar from the series 10 into the series 8 so as to fold the pile-forming material upwardly over the edge of the preceding bars of the series 6 and the bar is in position to be engaged by the threads of the shaft 16. The threads of this shaft are moving into position to engage the bar which has just been raised into the series 8. In Figure 11 each of the shafts has moved through 90 of rotation and the threads of the shaft 16 have engaged the bar moved into the series 8 and begun to move it out of the way of the bar being moved downwardly from the series 4 into the series 6 by the pin 44 of the upper shifting mechanism. The pin 44 of the lower shifting mechanism has been retracted by its spring so as to prevent it from engaging the succeeding bar of the series 10 as the, shifting mechanism rotates. In Figure 12 the threads of the shaft 16 have moved the bar which Was'raised during the operation as shown in Figure 10, a sufiicient distance to permit the bar which was moved from the series 4 to the series 6 to take up its position without engaging the preceding bar. The pin 44 of the upper shifting mechanism has moved a bar from the series 4 downwardly into engagement with the pile-forming material so as to fold it downward over the edge of the bar which was raised by the operation shown in Figure 10. The threads of the shaft 14 are movlng into position to carry the bar which has been lowered into position out of the way of the bar which will be raised from the series into the series 8 by the continued rotation of the shafts. The pin 44 of the lower shifting mechanism has been projected by the cam 46 into position to engage the underside of the bar which is to be moved from the series 10 into the series 8 and the in of the upper shifting member has move out of engagement with the bar moved into the series 6.

In Figure 13 the pin 44 has engaged the bar carried by the series 10 and is raising it in position to be engaged by the threads of the shaft 16. The threads of the shaft 14 have engaged the bar moved into series 6' so as to move it out of the way of the bar being raised into engagement with the shaft 16.

From the foregoing sequence of operations it is seen that the bars are moved alternately from the outer series 4 and 10 into the. inner series 6 and 8 so as to engage the pile-forming material alternately on opposite sides thereof and fold it into loops over the edges of the preceding bars and hold the folded portions of the material in place. The materlal is thus folded over and under the successive bars so as to form a series of loops of the material which is to form the pile of the fabric.

The folding of the pile-forming material produces little or no tension on the material. However, in order further to prevent the pile-forming material from being subjected to appreciable tension it is preferable to employ an oscillating guide member which is carried by the arms 62 located at each end of the machine and secured to an oscillating shaft 64. The shaft 64 is oscillated by means of the arm 65 which is pivotally secured to the eccentric disk 66 which in turn is driven from the bevel gears 68 one of which is secured to the same shaft 70 which carries the bevel gears 34 for driving the shafts 12, 14. 16 and 18. Theguide member 60 is thus moved up and down during each rotation of the shaft so as to move the material into raised position before a bar is moved from the series 10 into the series 8 and is then moved into lowered position before a bar is moved from the series 4 into the series 6. Each bar holds successive portions'of the pile-forming material in the raised and lowered position and carries it through the machine in looped form. The loops of material when formed in this manner are substantially uniform since there is no pulling or stretching of the yarn or bats of material during formation which might break the yarn or thin out the bat of material. Furthermore since the loops are not under tension there is practically no tendency for the loops 'of the vulcanizing of material to pull out from between the bars when the bars of either series are removed.

The shafts 12 and 18 are longer than the shafts 14 and 16 and are journaled in bearings in the upright members 26 and 28 located near the ends of the frame 30. The forward ends of the shafts 14 and 16 are also journaled in the upright member 26 but the rearward ends of the shafts are journaled in the support 32 positioned between the ends of the frame 30 but at a sufficient distance from the uprights 26 to permit the use of the desired number of bars. The bars carried in the lower series 8 and 10 are withdrawn from the loops of material after the material has traveled a short distance and the folded loops are held between the bars of the series 6 and carried toward the rear of the machine with the folds of material exposed over the lower edge of the bars of the series 6.

These loops of material are then secured to a web of backing material such as burlap or a textile fabric. The web of backing material is carried by the roll 70 and passes between the rolls 72 and 74. The roll 74 is partly immersed in a tank 76 of adhesive or cementitious material such as dispersed rubber and its upper surface transfers the adhesive material to one side of the backing material. Any excess adhesive material may be removed from the surface of the fabric by means of a doctor blade 78. The backing with its coating of adhesive material is then passed over the roller 80 and the coated face of the backing is pressed into engagement with the exposed loops of pile-formingmaterial carried by the bars of the series 6. The roller 80 is preferably placed as near to the point where the bars of the series 8 are retracted from engagement with the pile-forming material as possible.

The backing material after it has been pressed into engagement with the pile-forming material passes over a bed 82 which preferably consists of a chamber 86 to which steam or other heating medium may be admitted for vulcanizing the adhesive material which has been applied to the backing material and which secures the pile-forming mate-' rial in-place. The bed 82 is preferably urged into engagement with the backing material by means of springs 88, the tension of which may be adjusted by the screws 90. The series of bars 6 is extended a sufiicient distance to insure the proper vulcanizing or hardening of the adhesive so as to securely hold the p1leorming material on the web of backing material. The bars of the series 6 are then withdrawn from the pile fabric near the end bed 82. The pilecarried by the fabric may then be clip ed and printed or otherwise treated to fi nish the pile fabric.

In making wide rugs,

feet wide,

it may be desirable to provide one or more members for holding the bars of the series 4 and 10 which are not engaged by the pile-forming material against vibration. or flexing between their ends. In the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 3, a threaded shaft 92 similar to the shaft 18 is driven by the gear 94 from the bevel gear 96. The shaft 92 is positioned below the bars so that the threads of the shafts will en age the lower edges of the bars carried in t e series 10. If desired a similar shaft may be mounted above the series 4 of the bars so as to prevent flexing or vibration of the bars and to hold them in alignment so that when they are shifted from the outer series 4 and 10 into the inner series 6 and 8 the bars will be in proper alignment and the bars which are being moved inwardly from the series 4 and 10 will not engage the preceding bars of the series 6 or 8.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 6, the pile-forming material is shown as consisting of adjacent threads of yarn or similar material designated by the numeral 98. When the pileforming material consists of a fibrous material in the form of a bat the form of the invention shown in Figures 8 and 9 may be employed. As illustrated in these figures the bat of fibrous material 100 is rolled upon a core 102 and the layers of the bat separated by means of a paper of fabric layer 104. As the machine operates the bat is unrolled and the loose material 100 is carried to the machine upon the layer of paper 104 so as to be brought into position to be engaged by the bars of the series 6 and 8 and folded into loops to be secured to the web of backing material. The layer of paper or fabric is withdrawn from the hat of material as it enters the machine and may be wound up on the drum 106. In the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 8 the bat is moved into the raised and lowered positions by means of an oscillating guide 62 such as that illustrated in Figure 1. In Figure 9 the bat of material is fed directly to the machine over the plate 108 and the sheet of paper is drawn over the edge of the plate adjacent the machine and wound up on the drum 106.

Although the invention has been illustrated in its preferred form the machine is capable of numerous modifications and the method may be carriedout in machines of any desired type. For this reason it should be clearly understood that the invention is not intended to be limited by the foregoing illustrative embodiment thereof except as defined by the claims.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A machine for making pile fabric comprising a series of members, means for moving said members into engagement with pileforming material, a complementary series of members, means for moving the members of said complementary series intoen agement with said pile-forming material an into position adjacent to the members of the ot er series to fold the material into a series of loops, and means forsecuring the loops of material so formed to a web of backing material.

2. A machine for making pile fabric comprising a series of members, means for moving each of the members of the series successively into engagement with pile-formin material, a complementary series of mem ers, means for moving each of the members of said complementary series successively into engagement with said pile-forming material and into position adjacent the members of the other series to fold the material into a series of loops, and means for securin the loops of material so formed to a web of acking material.

3. A machine-for makin pile fabric comprising two series of loopormin members positioned on opposite sides 0 material which is to form the pile, means for moving members of each series alternately into engagement with said pile-forming material to fold the material into loops, and means for securing the loops of material so formed to a web of backing material.

4. A machine for making pile fabric comprising two cooperating series of folding members located upon opposite sides of the pile-forming material, means for moving the folding members of each series successively in alternation with the members of the other series transversely toward the fabric and into material folding relation to the members of the other series and means for moving the members longitudinally of the fabric to form the pile.

5. A machine for making pile fabric comprising upper loop-forming members, lower loop-forming members, means for folding pile-forming material over the upper edges of the lower members and under the lower edges of the upper members, and means for securing the loops of material so formed to a web of backing material.

6. A machine for making pile fabric comprising two endless series of loop forming members positioned on opposite sides of material which is to form the pile, means for moving the members of each series into engagement with said pile-forming material and into position with the edges of members on one side of said material extending beyond the edges of the members on the other side thereof to fold the material into loops, and means for securing the loops of material so formed to a web of backing material.

7. A machine for making pile fabric comprising two cooperating series of folding members located upon opposite sides of the pile-forming material, and means for operating said members in such succession that first a member of one series is moved transversely to the fabric to wipe a fold of the material over one face of a member of the other series and is moved longitudinally of the fabric to form the pile and subsequently a member of the other series is moved transversely to the fabric to wipe the material over the opposite face of said aforementioned member of the first mentioned series, where-' by by a wiping and folding action, as distinguished from a tucking action, a series of loops of uniform dimensions are formed in the material.

8. A machine for making pile fabric comprising two conveyors, loop-forming members carried by each conveyor, means for moving said members alternately into engagement with pile-forming material and into positions such that the edges of the members carried by one conveyor or extend beyond the edges of members carried by the other conveyor so as to fold the pile-forming material into loops, and means for securing the loops. of material so formed to a web of backing material.

9. A machine for'making pile fabric comprising two rotatable threaded conveyors positioned one above the other, loop-forming members carried by said conveyors and movable longitudinally thereof during rotation of said conveyors, means for moving said members alternately into position to be carried by one or the other of said conveyors and into engagement with pile-forming material on the opposite sides thereof to fold the material into loops, and means for securing the loops of material so formed to a web of backing material.

10. A machine for making pile fabric comprising two similar sets of conveyors each comprising four rotatable threaded conveyors positioned one conveyor adjacent the other, loop-forming members extending between said sets of conveyors, the ends of said members engaging in the threads of corresponding conveyors of each set, the outermost conveyors of each set being threaded and rotated to carry said members in one direction, the two inner conveyors of each set being threaded and rotated to carry said members in the opposite direction, means for transferring members from the outermost conveyors of each set into position to be carried by the respective adjacent inner conveyors at one end of the path of travel of said members and into engagement with pileforming material to fold the material into loops, means for transferring members from the inner conveyors to the respective outermost conveyors at the other end of the path of travel of said members andout of engagement with the looped material, and means for securing the loops of material so formed to a web of backing material.

11. A machine for making pile fabric comprising two threaded conveyors, loop-formmg members carried by said conveyors, means for transferring said members rom one of said conveyors to the other of said conveyors and into position to engage pile-forming material to fold the material into loops, means for positioning said members so that they will be engaged by the threads of each conveyor after it has been transferred from theother conveyor, and means for securin the loops of material so formed to a web 0 backin g material.

12. A machine for making pile fabric comprising a plurality of rotatable threaded conveyors, loop-forming members, the ends of which engage in the threads of said conveyors, means for transferring ried by one of said conveyors mto position to be engaged by the threads of another of said conveyors and into position to engage pileforming material to fold the material into loops, means for holding each member out of the way of the next'succeeding member when the latter is transferred from one conveyor to another, and means for securing the loops of maferial so formed to a web of backing mater1a 13. A machine for makin pile fabric comprising a plurality of trac s, loop-forming members movable along said tracks, the members moving along one of said tracks being positioned with their adjacent edges between members carried by another of said tracks, means for moving said members into position on said tracks, said members when so moved engaging pile-forming material and folding it over the edge of the preceding member carried on the other track, means for removing the members carried by one of said tracks from the loops of material and means for securing the loops of material thus exposed to a web of backing material.

14. In a machine. for making pile fabric the combination of means for moving the pileforming material into upper and lower positions, movable loop-forming members over the edges of which the pile-forming material is to be folded, means for moving a loopforming member into position adjacent said material when the material is in raised position, and means for moving another loopforming member into position adjacent the preceding member when said pile-forming material is in lowered position.

15. An apparatus for forming a web into folds, which comprises a plurality of 0ppositely directed fold forms, means for moving said forms side by side and in overlapping relation along the desired path of the folded web, means for moving said fold forms alternately, first from one direction and then from the other, into closely overlapping relation to the fold last formed, and means-for wrapping the web over the exposed face of each form as it comes into such overlappingrelamembers car-' tion and before the next form is broiight into position.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 15, in which the means for wrapping includes a carrier web adapted to resist the strain of feeding and means for withdrawing the carrier from the web to be folded as the latter is .wra ped over the folding form.

17. n apparatus for forming a pile fabric, which'com rises a device for olding a web of matted bres as defined in claim means for removing from the folded web fold forms of a series which is directed in one direction while the fold forms of the oppositely directed series continue to carry the web; means formoving an adhesive backing against the exposed edges of the folds and together with the folded web while the latter is still carried on said oppositely directed series of fold forms; and means for setting the adhesive backin while the web is thus carried.

18. n apparatus for forming a pile fabric, which comprises means for wrapping a web of matted fibres between the overlapping edges of oppositely directed fold forms; means for moving said fold forms for a substantial distance longitudinally of the web with the folded web compressed between them; means for removing from the web fold forms directed in one direction while leaving the web carried on the oppositely directed forms; means for moving an adhesive backing to and with the folded web; and means for setting the backing while it is pressed against the edges of the folds of said web and while the web is still carried on said oppositely directed fold forms.

Signed at Paterson, New Jersey, this 14th day ofJanuary, 1929.

GEORGE ROBERTSON. JAMES BAXTER ROBERTSON. 

